1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, primarily, to the art of building construction. More generally, it relates to an aesthetic device that covers and seals an opening in an exterior wall through which electrical wiring, tubing, or other elongate members extend.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An opening must be formed in an exterior wall of a house or other building so that external electrical wiring may enter into the interior of such building.
The hole must be sealed around the wiring to form a barrier that keeps out the effects of weather, insects, and the like.
Cable television companies, for example, typically drill a throughbore in an exterior wall, position a centrally-apertured rubber grommet in the throughbore, and extend the cable through the central aperture. The rubber grommet is typically exposed to the effects of sunlight. Thus, it usually disintegrates within a few months. Its disintegration allows insects, reptiles, and the like to travel through the throughbore.
In other applications, an opening may need to be formed in the wall of a planter so that the soil in the planter may be irrigated by drip tubing or the like. It is customary to seal such openings with a grommet, just as in the cable TV example just mentioned.
There are several more elaborate ways of sealing such an opening or throughbore, and some of them have been patented. However, some of the known methods are time-consuming, some of them are expensive, and some of them are ineffective.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,914,011 to Eccles depicts a hollow housing that is screw threadedly engaged to an external wall that covers a throughbore formed in the external wall. The external and internal wiring meets in the housing but the housing is otherwise empty or hollow. Thus, no barrier to insect entry is provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,747 to Harshman et al. discloses an interface for cables for preventing the escape of electromagnetic radiation. It includes a housing with an attachable cover. The cover is closed during operation, but is removed to enable introduction of powdered graphite into the housing after cable installation. The graphite fills a recess defined by the housing, thereby isolating the cables from the housing and from all other cables.
However, the Harshman et al. structure employs an O-ring to form the seal.
Accordingly, its installation is relatively slow and not inexpensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,029 to Bing discloses an electrical conduit body that facilitates removal through securable screws. However, Bing does not suggest a means of insulating or protecting the electrical wires.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,313 to Moore et al. teaches a cable penetration seal formed by shaped packing blocks of deformable material.
Thus there is a need for an improved structure for sealing an electrical wiring throughbore formed in an exterior wall of a structure that is fast and easy to install, inexpensive, and effective.
A similar need exists for sealing openings formed in other materials for other reasons, such as the sealing of an opening in the wall of a planter around an irrigation drip tube, for example.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.
The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an aesthetic structure that covers and seals a throughbore for electrical wiring, piping, tubes, or other elongate members is now met by a new, useful, and nonobvious invention. The novel device covers a throughbore or opening and is adapted to receive a conduit for electrical wiring, piping, tubing, or the like. The novel structure includes a hollow housing having a closed top, a closed back, a pair of side walls formed integrally with the closed top and the closed back, an open bottom, and an open front adapted to abut against an exterior surface of a wall within which the throughbore is formed.
The device further includes fastening means for securing the hollow housing to the exterior surface of a wall so that the open front of the hollow housing abuts the exterior surface of the wall. The closed top, closed back, and the pair of side walls collectively form a hollow interior when the open front of the hollow housing is disposed in abutting relation to the exterior surface of the wall.
The hollow interior is adapted to accommodate an upper end of the conduit and the conduit has a lumen adapted to accommodate at least one electrical conductor. The upper end of the conduit may be press fit into the hollow housing, secured thereinto by a suitable adhesive, screw-threadedly engaged thereto, or secured by other means.
A port is formed in the closed top and is adapted to receive a sealant that at least partially fills the hollow housing to seal the throughbore. A cap closes the port and is removed from the port when the sealant is introduced into the hollow housing. The cap is placed in closing relation to the port after the sealant has been introduced into the hollow housing.
The fastening means includes a first flange formed integrally with a first side wall and a second flange formed integrally with the second side wall. The first flange is positioned in normal relation to the first side wall and the second flange is positioned in normal relation to the second side wall. Both flanges are disposed in overlying relation to the exterior surface of the wall when the open front of the hollow housing is disposed in abutting relation to the exterior surface of the wall.
An important object of this invention is to provide a throughbore seal that may be installed quickly.
Another object is to provide a throughbore seal that is inexpensive yet effective.
These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this description proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.